If I had a dollar for every time over the past few weeks that I’ve heard someone say, “Flying is a privilege, not a right,” I would have no need to think about my current employment status at all (I’m currently on a leave of absence from the airline). Let’s examine this little – and, I’m sorry, but I do mean little – thought pattern for a moment, shall we?
The following is my response, cleaned up a bit for public consumption, to a coworker (that’s right, a fellow airline pilot who makes his living the same way I do) who said:
I do not think that flying on an airplane is an unalienable or natural right.
I answered:
Then what is it? And who legitimately owns and grants the rights to it? Whoever they might be, what gives them this exclusive power over we the people who are the authentic governing authority in this country? In other words, how did they come by this power? It could only be through our consent, right? And, if it is our consent that endows them, then wouldn’t that mean that it is we the people who legitimately own and grant the rights to it? And, having established that no other human agency gave us that ownership and power, how is it not a natural right?
Then the follow up to that is: what real benefit do we derive by transferring our power over to politicians and bureaucrats who, rather than producing goods or services that contribute to the basic needs, welfare, or comfort of ordinary people, instead make their living by siphoning the productivity of others off the market to build their own houses and communities (complete with gates to keep us productive types off their lawns)? Oh, that’s right – we benefit because they, being our betters and the creme de la creme of society, are watching over us, keeping us safe and secure, delivering us from evil, etc. since we cannot possibly take care of ourselves even though we are the ones who gave them the power to take care of us BECAUSE IT WAS OURS TO GIVE.
The Wright Bros. were just two guys with two brains and a dream who innovated something of genuine value to all humankind. They didn’t have to file any permits, and nobody granted them the privilege of tinkering around in their shop or buzzing around over the ground. But like all new innovative enterprises, early flight was sloppy and dangerous. Although the best minds and technicians available were already giving their all to making it better and especially safer, it only took a couple mishaps to open the door for the state to step in and take over.
It’s a pattern that has repeated throughout history. Things happen that we can’t completely control. So we seek a higher power to take control. If we’re not happy with what we find, we make our own higher power – only it doesn’t have any power at all except what we give it, reducing our own power in the process. Now we’ve created ourselves a monster to tell us what to do, and we take comfort in knowing that all those big, scary things out there are being handled by the all wise, all knowing thing we created in our own image to save us.
But, as it grows, its appetite grows too. Now we’re spending more and more of our time and labor feeding it. And, when even that’s no longer enough, it starts to feed directly on us! That’s why, for example, funds from the Recovery Act (your productivity) are being used to stimulate the economy by purchasing really expensive, dangerous machines and hire droves of blue-shirted minions to abuse you when you come to work or wish to exercise your privilege of moving around like the birds of the sky, the beasts of the field, or the fish of the sea. You have erected and empowered and served this thing, crying out to it for help and deliverance, and now that it is turning around and eating you alive, you still come to its defense and justify its sovereign right to exploit, enslave, and abuse you.
How are driving, walking, or sitting in your den drinking beer and scratching your [self] any different from flying – or are those also privileges, and not rights? Will you still defend the state even when they’re dictating those aspects of your life as well? Oh wait, maybe they already are…
So, what do you all say? Among our Creator-endowed, unalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, where does the modern blessing of human flight fit – or does it?
I would say that you are correct in your basis.. I would also add this to the mix; That only the owner of any “Property” is duly charged with its care. By this I mean to say that only an airline (company) is responsible for its property/assets, and is or should be best suited for the care and security of all of its assets. Assets includes the human domain, vehicles, buildings and so on… What does the “State” have invested in these assets to warrant its protection of them? If the “State” has some ownership of any assets (which it should not) then why can’t the “State” be included in law suits, if not be the focus of such suits regarding the loss of life, limb and other property? Liberty first, Freedom will follow.
Since tax payer dollars funded the bailout of numerous airlines, I would say that flying is a right, not a privilige. If your dollars funded it, it means you have part ownership, duh! Whoever came up with this misnomer needs to be reminded of the fact that the tax payers bailed out the airlines. Let’s see here folks, can you think of other corporations that were bailed out by your tax dollars and try to figure out what your priviliges and rights are??? Hello??? Is this thing on??????????
Perhaps we should nationalize airlines like a public transport service. Or pass minimum standards.
This is addressed by the Supreme Court in Saenz et al vs Roe et al: http://supreme.justia.com/us/526/489/index.html: Freedom of travel among the states was considered fundamental.
Mixed marks.
“Freedom to travel” is effectively a right, although there’s nothing that says HOW you can travel. If you elect to walk from San Diego, CA to Bangor, ME – there’s no reason anyone should stop you.
However, privacy in one’s person and effects damned sure IS a right, and there’s no reason to give up that right when pursuing any other sort of lawful activity (yes, that includes flying. Or driving – when there are “backscatter vans” running about – q.v. Or anything else.)
As I’ve said everywhere else I’ve weight in on the subject:
- The primary reason I’ve long since stopped flying is because the seats have gotten too small. I’m a reasonably large individual (not “fat” – just “hulking” – I run 6’3″, 270#, have about a thirty-eight inch waist, but my /shoulders/ are what sticks into the seats to either side of me. I don’t “spill over the armrest.”) Seats keep getting smaller, but I /can’t/. I’m just a throwback – a genetic expression of bigness. (Similarly, I flatly refuse to pay the “fat bastard” tax idea being bandied about – as I’m not “fat.” I am simply “large” – but I do not float in water, I sink like a stone. Eliminates the idea of “physical fatness.”)
- Airport Insecurity has been becoming a joke even before 11SEP2001 – I remember being able to pass a rather amusing evening people-watching at Indy Airport, or even at San Jose Airport shortly after I came to CA. I might have /one/ cop ask me what I’m doing, I’d tell him, he’d put out a description of me for everyone else, and I’d usually end up waving at the other cops as they went by. Sometimes, we’d talk for a bit. They’re just too damned paranoid now.
- If I /do/ have to fly for some compelling reason (military summons, family emergency, or similar,) it should be interesting.
1) I’ll refuse the scanner. Sorry, but I’ve had enough X-radiation directed at me for two lifetimes already, just in medical imaging!
2) YOU MAY NOT TOUCH ME. If you do, I will consider it assault and respond accordingly, energetically, and immediately.
3) We’re not going to go anywhere private. I don’t care – I want /everyone/ to see what they’re subject to.
4) I’ll strip naked right here, and you can watch. Again, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO TOUCH ME.
I figure if enough people see me naked at the screen and carrying my clothing to the gate (so I can find a – hopefully – not cold plastic chair to sit in while I get dressed…) it should stir something and give our outrage direction.
Whenever I have to go to anything with a security checkpoint as it is, I’m about /this/ far (holds up thumb and forefinger about 1/32″ apart…) from just making myself a loincloth with a couple of pockets, and wearing that /only/. Don’t touch me, I’ll just lift the flaps and everyone can look (I have no nudity taboo, and I don’t see anything “repulsive” or “dirty” about human nudity. Of either gender. So, I’d probably be an idea test case.
(No need to wear shoes, either. I watch where I put my feet, and the soles of my feet are tougher than every pair of shoes I own anyhow…)
@Ben – I’ll have to read the decision you posted (thanks for the link,) but I suspect that while “freedom of travel among the several states” is considered fundamental – point acknowledged above – the specific mode of travel wasn’t addressed. Kind of a double-edged sword, there, but anything you have to PAY for or HOLD A LICENSE for is not, generally legally speaking, considered a “right.”
Granted, it IS a decision of the Ninth Circuit, and I’ve found plenty of their decisions to be a bit specious over the last twenty years or so…
Regarding your first point, the following is from http://www.justice.gov/crt/crim/245.php
(That’s right, justice.GOV)
FEDERALLY PROTECTED ACTIVITIES
Summary:
The portion of Section 245 of Title 18 which is primarily enforced by the Criminal Section makes it unlawful to willfully injure, intimidate or interfere with any person, or to attempt to do so, by force or threat of force, because of that other person’s race, color, religion or national origin and because of his/her activity as one of the following:
o A student at or applicant for admission to a public school or public college
o A participant in a benefit, service, privilege, program, facility or activity provided or administered by a state or local government
o An applicant for private or state employment; a private or state employee; a member or applicant for membership in a labor organization or hiring hall; or an applicant for employment through an employment agency, labor organization or hiring hall
o A juror or prospective juror in state court
o A traveler or user of a facility of interstate commerce or common carrier
I’ve always viewed transportation as a product I bought as a consumer. Whether it’s a cab ride or ride on a train or airfare. Anything less than that and the government is restricting my movements.
I am not a pig or cow in a meat factory farm, chained in my pen. Government does not have the right to restrict my movements. I am innocent until proven guilty of a crime.
Don’t let anyone con you: The common law right to travel predates the constitution, and is incorporated in the all other rights mentioned in the 9th and 10th amendments. Not convinced? How about 49 US Code-Section 40103 (2) “A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit through the navigable airspace.”
Now the bad news:
The TSA does not, and can not require you to submit to a search. However, they can, and do, require the airline to refuse to transport you if you do not consent to a search. They do this by requiring the airlines to have a provision in the contract of carriage, otherwise known as a ticket that requires the passenger to agree to a search of his person and property. So consent is a matter of contract law, and if you do not consent, you have dishonored, or breached the contract. Hence, you may not board your flight, and you are trespassing and guilty of disorderly conduct. They can lawfully lay hands on you and eject you from property that you have no right to be on, and if you resist, they can meet force with force. Since you have breached the contract, it is as if you have no ticket. Pretty sneaky, huh?
So if you want to fly, you must consent to a search. (Note it is your consent that is required, not the search itself.) Don’t make the mistake of refusing, this breaches the contract, and the 4th amendment does not protect you.
Does this mean you agree to any kind of search? Not at all, you agree to abide by the terms of the contract. Are the body scan or pat-down mentioned in the contract? No? Hmmm…
Who I find frustrating are those who think they should pay absolutely nothing in order to fly they whine whenever the price of gas goes up but in the same breath talk about how ridiculous air fares are. Filling a 767 isn’t cheap.